The Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins are playing live on the NHL season schedule on Wednesday night and the opener is live from TD Garden on the NBC Sports Network and streaming online from the NBCSN Live Extra website past 7:30 pm ET as these two east rivals matchup after each making the playoffs last season and getting beaten by a rival team.
The Flyers and the Bruins each went down in the playoffs earlier than expected, with the Flyers losing a tough series to the Rangers and the Bruins losing to the Canadiens. The Bruins were considered a Stanley Cup favorite and they still are and while they had to make a trade coming into the season with one of their best defenders, they still feel like they are the team to beat. The Penguins may have something to say about that, but the Bruins should be very good again and so should the Flyers.
Last season the Flyers played tight in the seven game series with the Rangers, but NY outlasted them and now they are coming back looking to get farther than last season. The Bruins come into the game after a loss against the Red Wings in their preseason finale and now they matchup with the Flyers before another game with the Red Wings and this time that will be in Detroit. The Bruins were tops in the east last season and now they will be looking to bounce back after their upset against Montreal.
The Flyers come into the game after a loss in a shootout against the Capitals and they will play the Bruins before another rivalry game with the New Jersey Devils. The Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs are also playing on the early part of the opening night schedule, while the Kings and Sharks will matchup on NBC Sports Network later on. The Bruins will be without David Krejci and Bruins captain Zdeno Chara knows that the team has to step up without him and he is looking forward to getting back on the ice and starting this campaign. The Rangers will be in the mix with the Flyers again in the division and the Penguins are another strong team everyone will be gunning for after the Rangers came back 3-1 on them in that series last season.
Goalie Tuukka Rask is one of the best in the league and he comes in after winning the Vezina Trophy last season and he has been excellent against Philly in his career. Rask has won six times and has a shutout and his record is 6-1-1 against the team and now he will be up against Steve Mason, who is 3-1-2 against the bruins. The Flyers always seem to have goalie issues and that came up last season and now both of these teams come into the season strong in net.
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